The invention relates to window framing systems which use corner keys, and which seal against embossed surfaces, particularly for use in garage doors. The corner keys are insertable into hollow portions of extruded window frames and which preliminarily hold the window frame together prior to more permanent fastening within a garage door by a plurality of screws or even via a snap-fit arrangement. The angularity of at least two internal ribs of the corner key into which a fastener impinges thereupon, facilitates tightening engagement of each mitered window frame corner, leading to a superior appearance and preventing moisture from getting inside the window unit.
Consumers often request the inclusion of a series of decorative windows in garage doors. These windows are usually incorporated into the upper section of the garage door. The windows are formed in individual panels of the upper section and provide daylight illumination of the closed garage. A window opening is generally cut or preformed in each panel into which a window is to be inserted.
In the past, a rather cumbersome window and window framework system was inserted into the opening. Improvements to this base system included using a corner key to facilitate holding the mitered frame together, followed by insertion into the window opening and ultimate fastening to the garage door using screws. This process, while partially effective did suffer from some drawbacks. First, while the insertion of a corner key into hollow voids contained within the extruded plastic frames did initially hold the mitered window frame together thereby facilitating initial insertion of the frame into the opening, subsequent screwing of the frame into the garage door resulted in the creation of a gap between the mitered edges of the window frame as the frame was drawn close to the planar surface of the garage door. This gap leads to both an inferior exterior appearance as well as permitting rain or other external moisture to seep through the gaps created in the corners and migrate downwardly through the garage door panels, leading to internal rusting of the door and often through repeated exposure to moisture, unsightly water trails containing rust particles on both the exterior and interior garage door panels.
Additionally, the window framework system presented problems in sealing against the exterior, and possibly interior surface of a garage door, in that these doors almost always include some form of a decoratively embossed or bas-relief surface. This surface treatment provides important decorative and structural functions. Decoratively, this surface treatment is designed to mimic conventional wood panels while structurally it imparts a certain degree of dimensional stability to the garage door section. However, while an embossed surface is esthetically pleasing, the surface texture makes it difficult to effectively seal upon.
In the embossing process, a plurality of impressions are formed in a substrate, e.g., steel, by working rolls. Plateaus are formed between impressions. The inclination (i.e., slope) of surfaces of the substrate between plateaus and impressions is important for many reasons. It has been found to be an important surface feature with respect to premature corrosion, discoloration, and non-aesthetically pleasing appearance. Unduly high slopes of surfaces cause paint to flow downward into impressions leading to paint thinning at transition points between plateaus and impressions, which makes these sites prone to premature corrosion. Slopes which are too low, on the other hand, cause a loss of crispness in the painted embossed surface, which leads to a less aesthetically pleasing appearance. The balancing of these factors has additionally led to problems in trying to place and seal window frames into these highly embossed garage door panels, in that the linear distance between a recessed plateau and a raised impression is almost impossible to seal using a thin flexible strip of coextruded polymer, which is positioned on the raised impressions. While the thin flexible strip may sag between the raised impressions, it is not possible for this strip to physically conform into the plateaus, thereby inherently leading to a leaking situation.
The Prior Art solutions fail to effectively provide a window framework system which effectively seals against a high-relief embossed surface.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a shift in the paradigm of conventional wisdom and effects sealing engagement with an edge of an opening which has been cut into a garage door panel, rather than on the highly embossed surface.
It is an object of this invention to effect sealing engagement with the cut edge of a garage door panel with a flexible coextruded inwardly angled seal on the window frame, the opposite direction of conventional outwardly angled seals.
It is another object of this invention to use a corner key fastener for use in the decorative window system for a window opening in a garage door wherein the installation of the decorative window framing system is achieved by the use of these corner keys inserted into hollow extruded plastic window frame with subsequent attachment into the garage door by screws or snap-fit engagement with a mating engagement frame on an opposed side of the garage door panel.
It is an object of this invention to provide improvements in the area of the installation of garage door window systems.
It is another object of this invention to provide improvements in the formation of the decorative window systems by achieving a secure and tight framing system by imparting at least a non-transverse vector force component to the window frame by the deployment of at least a pair of angled ribs within the corner key. The use of these corner key fasteners in a window framing system achieves a more secure and tighter seal at the miter joint of the frame, thus preventing moisture, water, or other natural elements from entering the hollow interior of the garage door.
These and other objects of this invention will be evident when viewed in light of the drawings, detailed description and the pending claims.